Random blog posts since 2001. Other randomness since 1984.

Random blog posts since 2001. Other randomness since 1984.

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My name is Janet. I was born in 1984 on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces. I've had this site since 2001. I love to watch/read anything to do with vampires. I'm interested in learning about mythology, serial killers, and various other things that don't generally interest people my age. I tend to discuss my problems in this blog, so if you don't want to read my whining about my health, then you might want to go now. There's a fanlisting for me that you could join, if you want. (No pressure.)

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In a little less than half an hour, it will be thirty-six hours before I have to be at the hospital for my hip injection. While I’m still worried about going through a general anesthetic, I’m more worried right now about who will be performing the procedure. Well, not exactly. To be more precise, I’m worried about who will be assisting. The nurse practitioner of the orthopedist I’m seeing for my hip is a guy I’ve known since I was 8 years old. We were in the same third grade class, sat at the same lunch table, and went to the same church. He was my third grade boyfriend’s best friend and my third grade best friend’s boyfriend. We used to joke, at our lunch table, about a lot of things we were too young to really understand. One of his and his best friend’s favorite jokes was that they wanted to put their “limousines” in the “garages” of my friend and me.1 Even though I know that he is a professional and is married, it’s very weird to think that he’ll be in the general vicinity of my “garage” on Monday morning. We’ve known one another for twenty-five years. I know his mother. He knows my mother. This whole thing is just very awkward for me, which is a little weird because if he was a total stranger, I would totally be okay with being naked in this scenario.23 But because I know him I feel all weird about all of this. It’s just weird. I’m not usually this freaked out about the nakedness part of procedures. If you don’t get it, think about it. I’ll give you a moment. ↩This isn’t about him being a guy. I was nervous when a high school friend had to put a catheter in me in the ER once. ↩Oddly, there are quite a few people I’m still acquainted with who have seen me naked at some point. Most were in dance with me. ↩

I was told tonight that the reason that people don’t donate to my GoFundMe is that I’m a douche. My douchiness is an apparent result of my defense of Twitter friend who was being attacked for his lack of tweets after that friend had challenged this other dude over his hostile attitude over a Teen Vogue article that said Trump was gaslighting America and was endangering American democracy. BREAKING: Dude with 20k tweets thinks he’s hot shit for having 20k tweets, so he lashes out at a teen magazine. Seriously, bro? https://t.co/mWtZ69XfTo — Janet Morris (@janersm) December 11, 2016 In response to my tweet, he decided to call me “Super Girl”12 and to follow that up with mocking of my GoFundMe fundraiser. At first, it didn’t seem like he was making fun of me, but it became obvious rather quickly. BREAKING: Dude with 20k tweets responds to 257 Tweeter because no one @ ed him and Super Girl arrives. https://t.co/W8qRSAdVKd — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 JUST IN: Super Girl needs help with her house. Go fund her? https://t.co/LGVJp7sC41 — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 JUST IN: Super Girl is human. And flawed af. But eager to spread the news of her house needing repairs. More at 6. @janersm pic.twitter.com/iKv6Ywubfu — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 He decided that I don’t understand how he feels about Trump, because apparently no one suffers like he does. He decided that I was acting like a child because I was defending my friend. He had nonsensical retorts that only contained insults and attempts at gaslighting. He continued his wrath against the crowdfunding campaign because it upset him that much. Again, attacking people on the Internet while pleasing for their help is counter productive. https://t.co/1kGEm9mKy9 — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 Janet, if you want help … this ain’t the way. https://t.co/BBkuXuHRU7 — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 What sounds like gas lighting is you interjecting yourself and then liking your gofund me tweets. Tbh. But you do you, boo. https://t.co/Zxco6ba6CB — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 And better fund raising platforms, tbh. @janersm — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 And he just went to 100% bizarro: Blocked. Auto Insurance scam. https://t.co/aFiddzYlB1 — James Brooks (@hannibalsbuffet) December 11, 2016 In my first tweet, I was snarky, just like he had been to my friend.3 In subsequent responses, I was trying to be understanding about why a middle-aged man might be raging out against a teen magazine for running an article. That was what I was doing as he decided to disparage me and my GoFundMe campaign. When I tried to explain why I was doing the campaign, he just kept acting like an asshole. I would but I’m on a fixed income because I’m disabled, which is why I needed help repairing my house. You know that think you mock me over? https://t.co/IHzu3DrEvC — Janet Morris (@janersm) December 11, 2016 Of course in his performance tweeting, he didn’t tweet things that might make me look like a marginalized individual. It was obvious that his tweets were meant to get him attention or sympathy from his followers. It seemed ridiculous to me that he made the insinuation that any person who wants to raise money so that they can have roof over their head that doesn’t leak or a floor that isn’t the actual foundation of their house has to play this Susie Sunshine character. I’m not allowed to express my opinion or defend my friends because I’m poor & need help. That’s a lovely message to share. Maybe he’s right. Maybe that’s why I’ve literally only raised $20 for the repairs.4 I mean, I know he only said it because he was being bitchy and an asshole, but there’s that little part of me that thinks that maybe he’s right. Maybe if I weren’t me, people would actually help out. I followed all of the advice websites gave for making the campaign successful and it still wasn’t, so maybe it is just me. Maybe I deserve this, but it’s still pretty fucked up that someone tells another person that.5 Why do people suck so much? He doesn’t realize that calling a person a superhero’s name isn’t an insult. ↩He also doesn’t realize that Supergirl is one word. ↩A person who had been following him, which he would have known if he looked at my friend’s bio. ↩The biggest chunk of money came from the selling of Nana’s house. ↩Not quite as fucked up as the two death threats in the last 3 days that I’ve gotten from Trump supporters, but close. ↩

If you are feeling extra generous tonight or if you just want a tax credit, send donations to Freeman Recovery Center in Dickson, Tennessee or another rehab/treatment center in memory of Jay Barton. He was good people and a donation is a good way to honor him, his family and his friends.

I could say the title is about Nigel Farage’s ode to xenophobia or, as it is more commonly known, UK’s EU Referendum or Donald Trump’s ode to xenophobia, better knows as his candidacy for president—and it could honestly apply to both or either—but the title actually refers to something I did today.1 I hadn’t been to the pool in a while. My family has been a bit busy with Nana’s nursing home situation, dad’s potential for dementia, & other issues that are a tad more pressing than exercising in a pool. Unfortunately, not going to the pool tends to reinforce my anxiety issues, which makes it harder on me emotionally to leave the house. Basically, as not-pressing as it is, it’s still important. So today I went and… I TALKED TO SIX PEOPLE. Six. Not one or two,2 but six. And I wasn’t related to any of them, nor had I had any real contact with any of them before. Even though a few have been in the pool when I’ve been there, I hadn’t really tried talking to them. But today I did, and one of the ladies actually came back to talk to me (with her husband) afterward. It was just…wow. And, in most of the cases, the first person to make the attempt at conversation was me. So this attempt at acting like a social being was even more significant. My family was proud. My therapist will be proud.3 I’m proud. Fist bumps and happy dances for the introverted, agoraphobic, socially phobic ginger. Photo credit: Fouquier ॐ via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND But, seriously, what the fuck, UK? Did you really need to out-crazy Trump & the Republicans? Congratulations, you did it. I just hope your fuckery doesn’t get him elected here. No, that’s not me being paranoid, that’s me being realistic. Your dumbfuckery is so not what we need right now. Kindly go fuck yourselves. ↩or three or four or five ↩She’s happy when I manage one a month, so six in a day will thrill her. ↩

Dear Amanda Lauren, It still disgusts me that you were so cruel in your @xojanedotcom piece about someone you once considered your friend. Not just to her, but to her family, to her true friends, to people with schizoaffective disorder, to the mental health community in general, and to the people who have friends or family with mental health issues. To claim that you were doing it to boost awareness is frightening. You didn’t boost awareness of anyone or anything except yourself or your hunger for fame. You clearly crave drama. Your other pieces seem to indicate this, as did, let’s not mince words, cyberstalking your former friend. You didn’t need to see what was being said about you. You chose to either because something in you felt more alive with this young woman as your adversary or you felt like her hate justified some level of hatred you have for yourself. The Internet allows people to give into self-destructive urges like that. You should work on that because it will not only be potentially harmful to your career, but it will push away people who make up your support system. You should apologize to everyone harmed by your words, especially the family of your friend. I hope they didn’t read your piece, but if they did, then I can only imagine how that impacted them. Did you even think about them? Did you bother to ask permission to memorialize their loved one as a lost cause? Or were you too busy concentrating on the fame and drama this kind of story might get you? Whatever your reason, it was the wrong thing to do. You should be ashamed not of sharing your name but of hurting people so viciously. You shouldn’t try advocating on behalf of people who have chronic illnesses who you see as being undeserving of life because they’re sick. Your words were not wanted and your advocacy is unneeded. Apologize. Learn from your mistakes and don’t do this again. The attention you got was not worth it. from Destigmatize Me via IFTTT

“You know how I don’t like to describe people or the things they do as evil? What she wrote was truly evil.” That was how I described Amanda Lauren’s essay describing an ex-friend’s life with schizoaffective disorder and that friend’s death to my mother. I had already ranted to my father and complained on social media. I couldn’t tell my mom that this total stranger was happy her mentally ill friend was dead. I knew that if I told her that that I would break down. Each time I’ve thought about what was written, I’ve had to stop myself from crying or screaming or begging to be taken to the hospital because my mind starts going down the all too familiar path of my-friends-and-family-would-probably-be-happy-if-I-died-too. It was probably a path that “Leah” was familiar with as well. There was always something about her that wasn’t quite right. Lauren’s essay is narcissistic drivel at best. Her friend wasn’t living up to a standard that she expected of her, so she wrote her off. She could justify this lack of understanding by saying her friend failed her. “Leah” didn’t clean her house, so she was undeserving of respect. “Leah” didn’t have steady relationships, so she was undeserving of respect. “Leah” was a cam girl, so she was undeserving of respect. “Leah” had delusions, so she was undeserving of respect. “Leah” pursued her crush and failed in a job Lauren secured for her, so she was undeserving of respect. “Leah” had body image issues, so she was undeserving of respect. It didn’t stop at her friend’s failures. The friend’s parents also failed her. Because “Leah”‘s parents didn’t magically cure their daughter of an incurable disease, they failed their daughter and failed Lauren because now she had to deal with their daughter’s erratic behavior. Every struggle “Leah” went through was actually harder on Lauren because the world is apparently all about her.1 Lauren’s lack of compassion was horrid, but her choice to use a platform like xoJane during Mental Health Awareness Month to publish a tale highlighting her ignorance was almost worse. This is a month when mental health patients, caregivers, advocates, and healthcare providers try to educate others. It’s a month to become more considerate of the day-to-day struggles for mentally ill people. Lauren and xoJane could have explained what schizoaffective disorder is, how it impacts people who have the issue, and why they behave the way that they do. They could have explored the actual suffering of “Leah” and not focused on the self-involvement of Lauren. I can’t understand how a parent would let their child go on like this. Clearly, she was suffering and severely ill. If her disease were physical, would they have let her deteriorate to that point? Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic illness. It is sometimes considered a spectrum disorder because it involves overlapping symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder. It is not as well understood as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression because it isn’t studied as often and is less common; it is seen in 0.3% of the population compared to 1.1%, 2.6%, and 6.7% for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, respectively. It isn’t well recognized by doctors or therapists; a lot of patients with it are diagnosed with a mood disorder or with schizophrenia first. It impacts men and women at the same rate, but, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, men typically develop it earlier than women. It can be treated, in most cases, by self-management, medication, and therapy, but people who have it are at risk for substance use disorders, suicide, attention deficit disorder, and anxiety disorders. Schizoaffective disorder is caused by genetics, brain chemistry, brain structure, stress, and drug use. There are two types of schizoaffective disorder: bipolar and depressive. If the person has mixed or manic episodes, they have the bipolar type; otherwise, it’s the depressive. Unlike other situations, it’s actually better to have the bipolar type. Having it is less likely to result in suicide than having the depressive type. It is considered by some mental health professionals to be more severe than mood disorders, but less severe than schizophrenia. Because it is classified alongside schizophrenia as a psychotic disorder, it is more difficult to find providers willing to treat it. And treatments may be harmful to patients. Or they may not work. In my case, I have had many therapists “pass me off” to colleagues. I have tried multiple antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics. I’ve had many that didn’t work. Most have caused weight gain, including two that caused gains of fifty pounds or more. I’ve had seizures as a result of one medication. I’ve had a variety of less severe reactions to others. I even developed a temporary medicine-induced case of hyperthyroidism. Eventually I was switched to a high dose of an antidepressant, somewhat regular therapy, and self-management. I will always have this disorder. My parents can’t make it go away. Medicine can’t either. But I can cut people like Amanda Lauren out of my life. She thought “Leah” was toxic because of her issues, but, from my perspective, it was Lauren who was toxic. Yes, there were negative behaviors exhibited by “Leah”, but she was only behaving that way because of her illness. What was Lauren’s excuse? Why was she so petty, so judgmental? And why did she feel the need to cast herself in the role of victim? Why does she feel no shame in her words? I don’t understand how one person can be so selfish, petty, and cruel. As those are personality traits that can be traced back to parenting, I wonder why her parents let her attitude deteriorate to this point. Shouldn’t they have done something before their child became this remorseless beacon of hate? Photo credit: Cameron Bathory via Visualhunt.com / CC BY Updated: May 21, 2016 at 7:42 pm: Changed link to essay to one from archive.is as the Google cache link has updated to the “apology” by Jane […]

Once upon a time, we were friends. We would email each other, talk on Twitter, comment on each other’s blogs, etc. It was nice. You and I were both diagnosed as Bipolar and it was nice to have someone around my age to talk to about that. You weren’t my only friend with that issue, but for a while there you were one of the closest. When you got your lap-band surgery done, I remember worrying because you couldn’t keep down food, but you didn’t want to tell your doctor because you were finally losing weight. I worried you would have nutritional deficiencies before I realized I had them. And you told me you worried about my health issues as well. That’s why you felt the need when you were diagnosed with “Chronic Lyme Disease” to suggest I might have it as well.1 You told me that it fit my symptoms. You told me I might be able to go off my meds, lose weight, and live a life off without chronic pain if I’d just go to a Lyme specialist.2 And for a split second, I considered it.3 But then I researched it, something that you should have known I would do. When I told you that I didn’t think an infection was causing my hereditary condition,4 you huffed off like a toddler for a while before you came roaring back into my life. Our friendship never recovered from that, did it? Or maybe our friendship was nonexistent from the beginning. That’s what I started thinking tonight as your tirade came in. Well, I did after I described your past behaviors, including that close friendship with a certain blogger that used to write fat-shaming posts pretty regularly, and some people started pointing out that friends don’t really act like you’ve acted. I tried to defend you. You’re bipolar and off your meds…you are just on a Lyme disease kick…you’re just having a bad day or week or month or year. But that doesn’t explain it. Because the reality is that you’ve always had a shady edge to your behavior. Like how you harassed one mutual friend over her past drug issues and how that compared to your Lyme disease. Or the time you harassed another person I know and you know of over her exercising routine and her teeth. Or maybe the time you went after another mutual friend calling her a bad parent for having an autistic child and eating gluten. Or maybe how you treated total strangers should have clued me in. You trolled groups for disabled people on Twitter to promote your “everything is Lyme” mindset. You said people who didn’t buy marijuana5 off the street, not from reputable/regulated dealers, for their epileptic children were bad parents. You would even buy marijuana, in a state where it’s illegal, to make homemade CBD oil & you’d brag about it on social media. You didn’t care who you hurt, whether it was a friend, a family member, a stranger, or yourself. So your nonsensical transphobic tirade fits with the rest of your utter disregard and lack of even basic compassion for other people. And I am so happy my eyes are open to your cruelty. I’m glad that I am no longer having to hope that one day you’ll go back on your medicine and into therapy and be all better. Clearly, this is what the real you is like. I don’t know why you think the transgender community wants to strip you of your rights any more than I know why you fixated on Lyme. I don’t understand why you think I’m brainwashed when you’re the person actually buying into speculation and denying facts. I don’t know why you think that it’s okay to compare the LGBTQ community to Nazis or why you think there’s a vast conspiracy to brainwash children into being trans. Do you think that I’m going to molest children because of my past? Would you not trust me to be around children if I didn’t identify as 100% heterosexual? I mean before you determined that I was brainwashed by my trans friends. Was I a threat then? Am I one now? Have you always thought of me as a dangerous person? Did you really think I was threatening you? These are things I wanted to ask you. I don’t usually give people who pick fights with me multiple chances to walk away. I don’t warn them like I did you. You’ve seen me argue and you know this. You have to at least know I would never beat you up. I’ve slapped one person in my whole life and I still feel bad about that. I mean, come on, this is me. I rant online, but I’m practically a pacifist. Identifying as transgender is not a result of child molestation. Being a non-heterosexual is not the result of child molestation. This is a bullshit belief that even total homophobes and transphobes don’t express that much anymore. And being gay or trans doesn’t mean someone will molest children. Don’t believe what fear- and hate-mongers want you to believe. Don’t put your faith in people who won’t be honest with you. Did you even bother to look for a legitimate source on any of those articles? Ooh. Tabloids. So trust-worthy, especially ones with links to UKIP, BNP, & Tories. But I guess that fits with your fear-mongering and with your love of Trump.6 I always knew you were a Republican, but I never realized how much hatred you carry in your heart.7 You want me to be educated on this issue, but you’re forgetting that I actually am educated. Remember early in our friendship when I was being booted from my college major with one semester left? Or that what that major was in? I know a Social Work degree and a GRE score high enough to get my Master’s is not as impressive as being able to make your own CBD oil, but it’s close, right? I […]